Why? We know that while a gift can bring joy to some, it can also bring sadness to others.
For example, men have come to realize there are some things you do not buy for your wife on her birthday or at Christmas. Men who have been married for a long period of time have learned some things.
• Don’t give her a gift certificate to Jenny Craig or to Weight Watchers, because she is going to want to know what you meant by choosing such a gift
• Never buy a woman anti-wrinkle cream
• Never give them a book on "How to be the ideal wife"
• Don’t buy her any jewelry, because what she wants you can not afford and what you can afford she does not want.
• Don’t spend more than you can afford, because she will say, “How are we going to afford this!” Then again, if you buy something that seems inexpensive, she is going to feel like you do not love her.
Some women do not consider many gifts as gifts, they consider them to be reasons to do their husband bodily harm.
Also, men have to be careful what they give their mother-in-law.
Illus: A Jewish gentleman, fresh out of gift ideas, bought his mother-in-law a large plot in an expensive cemetery. On her next birthday, he bought her nothing. She was quick to comment loud and long on his thoughtlessness.
He replied, "Well, you haven't used the gift I gave you last year yet."
We have to be careful before we by some gifts, because they can be more of a punishment than they are a gift.
Illus: This makes us think of the man who received a parrot for Christmas. He did not need a parrot, nor did he necessarily want a parrot.
Want it or not, that is what he received.
This parrot was fully grown with a bad attitude and a bad vocabulary. Every other word was garbage-can language.
This man immediately began to go to work on the bird’s attitude and vocabulary. But it seemed that everything he tried failed.
• He was constantly saying polite words, hoping the bird would add these to his vocabulary
• He would often play soft music, hoping this would have an affect on the bird
• He yelled at the bird, and the bird got worse
• He took the bird out of the cage and shook the bird, and the bird got angrier and ruder
Nothing he thought of using to change this bird’s attitude and vocabulary seemed to work!
Finally, one day he was standing by a freezer, and he got so angry with the bird that he opened the door of the freezer and placed him in inside and shut the door.
For a few moments he heard the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and using his customary foul language, but suddenly, all was quiet.
The man was frightened that he might have actually frozen the parrot. He quickly opened the freezer door. The parrot calmly stepped out onto the man’s extended arm and said, "I'm sorry that I have offended you with my language and actions. I ask for your forgiveness. Please do not ever put me in that freezer again, I promise I will never say a bad word as long as I live."
The man was astounded at the bird's humility and change of attitude. The bird, still shivering from the freezer, said to the man, “May, I ask you one thing sir, WHAT DID THAT CHICKEN DO to deserve getting plucked and put in the freezer?”
We have to be careful what we give, because sometimes our gifts can be more of a punishment than a gift. Before you grandparents buy your grandchildren a set of drums, you might want to first consult with their parents.
But let’s get back to the very FIRST CHRISTMAS. We have Christmas because God gave mankind the greatest gift that has ever been given.
• It was a gift of love
• It was a gift that was needed then and is still needed today
It was such a precious gift, the Bible says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
Look at the word “Pondered”, this is the word “Sumballo” (Pronounced as Soom-bal'-lo) meaning TO MENTALLY CONSIDER.
The coming of Christ was the most glorious thing that has ever happened on this earth, and she pondered every precious detail of what took place.
Now what is sad about Christmas is that many do not see it that way. They celebrate Christmas, and they never ponder the reason we have Christmas. They never think of Jesus. They live a life of selfishness all year, and when Christmas comes, it is still all ABOUT THEMSELVES!
Illus: There was a little girl who asked for the privilege of reading the names of those to whom the packages under the Christmas tree were addressed. She could hardly wait until Christmas would arrive. Finally, it came and it was time to read the names. She read the names of brothers, sisters, and mother and father, and many times read her own name. After all the presents were gone, she began to pull the limbs of the Christmas tree hoping to find at least one more present. Her mother said, “Honey, what are you doing?” She said, ”I thought Christmas was Jesus’ birthday. I guess everyone forgot about Him.”
HOW TRUE THIS IS. Most folks have forgotten that Christmas is the Lord’s birthday. And in their world of excitement, all they can think about is themselves and other family members. IT NEVER CROSSES THEIR MIND THAT JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!
But as we look at the first Christmas, we find that it certainly crossed Mary’s mind. The Bible says she PONDERED all the wonderful things that took place and KEPT all these things in her heart.
Let’s look at the very FIRST CHRISTMAS GIFT, so we can truly celebrate CHRISTMAS in the manner in which it should be celebrated. Let us look at some of the things Mary PONDERED ABOUT CHRISTMAS. First consider this, she most likely pondered:
I. THOSE THINGS BEFORE HIS BIRTH
Look at Luke 1:26-38, we read, “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”
Like all Christians, I have read the Christmas story many times, but I want to show you something in this passage I have never noticed before, and have never heard a minister preach about.
After the angel told her:
• What was going to happen to her
• How it was going to happen to her
Something very wonderful happens in verse 38, we read, “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”
In other words, Mary submitted herself to bear this child. It was not something forced upon her, she said, “I am your handmaiden, let’s do it!”
Suppose she had said, “No, I do not want to submit myself….
• To be questioned by Joseph whom I truly love. I could never explain to him that I am a virgin but yet with child
• To be publicly humiliated as a woman bearing a child out of wedlock
No, I will not submit to such a thing.”
But she submitted to God’s will and said, “…Be it unto me according to thy word.” She had a choice, God will never force HIMSELF on any of us. Each and every one of us has a choice. We decide if we want Christ to be a part of our life.
As Mary PONDERED these things, she no doubt remembered what a big decision it was for her to submit to this pregnancy, realizing her life would never again be the same.
SHE PONDERED THOSE THINGS BEFORE HIS BIRTH and -
II. THOSE THINGS AFTER HIS BIRTH
While there were many things to PONDER before His birth, there were also many things to PONDER after His birth. Such as:
A. THE SIZE OF THE GIFT
The size of the gift DOES NOT INDICATE QUALITY. As a child, many of us have looked at the gifts under the Christmas tree. We valued them based on THREE things:
• SIZE - The bigger the present was the better it was
• WEIGHT - The more it weighed the better it was
• WRAPPINGS -The more fancy the wrapping, the better the gift
The fact is you can wrap a piece of junk in a fancy box.
Illus: Don Smith, a wonderful Christian man who is now with the Lord, was known to play jokes. It bothered him a great deal that sometimes when people would go Christmas shopping they would put their gifts in their cars while they continued to shop for other gifts, and some one would steal the gifts. So he decided to play a trick on these crooks who stole these gifts. He placed a box in the back of his truck wrapped with fancy wrapping paper with a beautiful bow on it. But the box was empty with a note inside rebuking the thief for stealing his box. He pulled up in a busy mall parking lot and went inside the store, and sure enough when he came out it was gone.
When it comes to Christmas presents, BIGGER is not always BETTER! For example, we all have seen young women open a small box that contained a diamond engagement ring, and they could not have been any more excited if it was in a box ten feet tall.
As Mary pondered these things and kept them in her heart, she recognized that the first gift of Christmas was NOT LARGE, nor was it WRAPPED IN A FANCY PACKAGE, but it was the greatest gift ever given!
B. THE WRAPPINGS OF THE GIFT
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells that when he was about 12 years of age, he had a girl friend. And she had a birthday party. Because it was his girlfriend’s birthday, he worked for weeks to make enough money to buy her a nice gold necklace. He took it home to get it wrapped, and since he was not good at wrapping he asked his sister if she would wrap it for him. She looked at the necklace and immediately fell in love with it. She tried to talk him into trading it for one of the pop bead necklaces made out of plastic. The one she owned had been worn so many times the paint was chipped off some of the pop beads. He told her he would not think of trading his nice gold necklace for a pop bead necklace, but asked her to wrap it up. She did a wonderful job of wrapping it and placed a nice bow on top of it. He went to the party, and at the end of the party, about 20 to 25 kids were sitting on the floor when his girlfriend began to open the presents. His gift looked better than all the rest, and since he was her boyfriend, she saved his for last. She opened every one of the packages, held them up and then passed them around for every one to get a better glance of the gift. She finally came to his. She very carefully removed the fancy wrappings and then she opened the box and her eyes almost popped out. She held the necklace up for everyone to see, and his eyes almost popped out. His sister had kept the gold necklace and wrapped the pop bead necklace, and she broke up a wonderful romance.
Wrappings do not make the gift. Gift wrappings, as we know them today, are less than a hundred years old; people in olden days used plain paper, but now we have pretty colors and ribbons to enhance the beauty of the gift.
When God sent His beloved Son to die for our sins He did not come as a ten foot giant. The Bible said He came as a “Babe” wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Look at Luke 2:7, we read, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
It is not the wrapping that makes the gift. It is the love behind the gift, the motive, that gives it value. Many gifts with pretty paper and ribbons will be given this year, but often the gifts are given out of duty, or because the giver expects something in return.
But the FIRST CHRISTMAS GIFT given to mankind was given in love. It was not given because it was something we deserved, it was simply given in love. Look at Romans 5:8, we read, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” His love for us is unquestionable, but what about our love for Him.
Illus: A sailor was in the hospital. On his chest he had this tattoo which read, “Jesus”. Some of the nurses at the nurses station were talking about the “Tattoo”. One said, “He must really love the Lord to have that Tattoo on his chest”. But another nurse said, “That Tattoo does not mean he loves the Lord, that tattoo is only skin deep.”
If the contents of our soul could be revealed, would our gift be labeled, “To Jesus, with love?”
Mary pondered the FIRST GIFT that was given at Christmas, the gift that did not have all the fancy trimmings. But she knew something that many folks do not know, that is, THE WRAPPING IS NOT WHAT MAKES THE GIFT.
Conclusion:
Illus: The government makes food producers put the contents on the outside of the packages so we can see what is inside. The first Christmas gift had “FILLED WITH LOVE” written all over it. Never has anyone given a greater gift than God gave at the first Christmas.
In John 3:16, we can see why God gave this wonderful gift, we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
WHY DID GOD GIVE THIS GIFT TO MANKIND? God gave this gift for two reasons:
(1) THAT WE MIGHT KNOW HIM
Illus: An intellectual, one day, was having trouble with God and man. He asked such questions as, “How can a man with a finite mind know God? How can he know God’s will?” The Christian man to whom these questions were addressed pointed to an ant hill, where thousands of little ants were busy doing their chores. The Christian said, “How can those ants understand what is in my mind?” The intellectual said, “The only way they can do that is for you to become an ant.”
That is exactly what the Lord did, HE BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US! This is the reason we refer to Him as Immanuel, GOD WITH US!
We never would have known about:
• How He cared for the poor
• How He cared for the sick
• How He cared for the sinner
• How He cared for children
• How He stood on a hillside and wept and cried, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
He became flesh and dwelt among us THAT WE MIGHT KNOW HIM, and -
(2) THAT WE MIGHT EMBRACE HIM
Illus: A young boy felt very different from the other boys in his class. His dad was in the military and he had not seen him for many years. Sometimes he would get lonely, and he would go to his bedroom and pick up his picture and look at him, and say, “If only my father could step out of that picture and hold me!”
That is exactly what Christ did. He stepped out of heaven so that mankind could see HIM and He could die for their sins.
(3) THAT WE MIGHT HAVE A REDEEMER
He was the sinless Son of God that was born of a virgin. He is the only one who has ever walked on this earth that was qualified to die for our sins.
As we go through this Christmas Season, let us do as Mary did, and ponder these wonderful things about the Christmas story.
Suppose I announced this morning that we are going to give away the most expensive Harley Davidson motorcycle to each of the men. All they have to do after church is claim the gift - THAT’S ALL! If I could do that, I can not imagine any man here not accepting such a gift.
God has given the greatest gift of all, HIS BELOVED SON, THAT WE MIGHT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. It is hard to believe that anyone would not accept such a gift.
Conclusion:
We have looked at:
I. THOSE THINGS BEFORE HIS BIRTH
II. THOSE THINGS AFTER HIS BIRTH
